Thank You!

We have sadly had a horrible case of the flu here this past week. Devin had it last Wednesday, Nate had it Friday & Saturday, and I got it last night. My laundry room is out of control. Because we have been dealing with so much sickness, the mailbox was left unopened this past week. I had to laugh at Nate as he finally went to the mailbox and stumbled in with his arms full. He said that he almost had to make two trips.

I was so pleasantly surprised with the many thoughtful things in that mailbox for me and for my family.

Jill sent me such a sweet card welcoming Mason into the world. Thanks, Jill!

Amy Hanks sent me the most unbelievable package. She made this adorable, pink, girlie, purse just for me. Amy is one of the most talented people that I know. She also included a mystery book for me to read. I love to read mystery and suspense novels. Thank you so much, Amy!!!


Jenn sent a cute Halloween package for the boys. They absolutely love to get mail. She sent Mason some adorable Halloween pjs, and there was even a little goodie bag for me! Thank you so much, Jenn!

Jenny Clouse also sent me the sweetest package. A Sudoku puzzle book -- those puzzles really relax me, a note pad and stickers, and the cutest outfits for Mason. I absolutely adore little velour outfits. Thank you so much for thinking of me, Jenny!!!

I really appreciate everything that everyone has done for us -- the meals, the calls, the notes, the packages. Thank you.

He's Here!!!

First of all, thank you so much for all of your sweet comments on your blogs. Thank you for thinking of me.

Mason Kyle Jensen
Born: October 15, 2006
Time: 8:02 am
Weight: 9 lbs. 12 oz.
Length: 21 inches

Yes, my plan worked somehow. I had this baby on the 15th. I am very stubborn and strong-willed, but we all know that. The irony is that my induction was scheduled for 7 am on the 15th, but my water broke at 2:06 am. I went into labor on my own for the very first time -- on the day that I wanted! The other ironic thing is that I was talking to my neighbor a couple of days before telling her that she might be getting a call at 2 am on that day because my body just might be listening to me. And then my water broke at about 2 am!


So, after my water broke, we really didn't have a plan because we had a bunch of helpers scheduled in shifts for the next day. Although I did tell my neighbor that I would call, she has a nursing baby and her husband is the bishop. Sunday is not exactly the best day for the bishop's wife to not have any sleep and to have to get 5 kids ready for church on her own the next day. So, we ended up calling Nate's cousin and wife who don't have any kids to come and sleep over with the kids. We left and called them while en route to the hospital hoping that they would answer and would get to our house quickly. It all worked great.


After I was checked in and set up in a room, I was officially checked into the hospital at about 3:30 am. Because I wasn't progressing very quickly, they started the Petocin to get things moving a bit faster. My contractions at that time weren't too bad because they were all in my stomach, not my back. As the time got closer to about 5:45 am, my contractions were about 5 minutes apart and moving quite strongly to my back. I asked for my epidural, but I still had about 15 minutes left of the Petocin to work through my body. Then, it took the anesthetist about 10 more minutes to get to my room. By the time he got there, my contractions were about 1 1/2 minutes apart -- all in my back -- and I was in intense pain. I had a fabulous nurse, though, who talked me through every contraction. It took about 20 minutes to get the epidural in my back and working. I was in so much pain that my back kept arching and it was hard for him to get the needle in place. They had me sit up and hold onto Nate's arms and neck. He had bright red scratch marks on him after those excruciating 20 minutes. As a matter of fact, after the epidural was finally in my back, I heard the nurse say, "You don't look so good. You better lie down." I was about to lie down when I realized that everyone in the room was not looking at me, but at Nate! It was like a scene from a movie when everyone forgets about the woman in intense labor pain and instead all their attention is on the poor husband who doesn't look so good. Nate had his head bent down with my nails clawing at him and his knees locked. He was pale and sickly green when I let go and he almost passed out. Although at the time I had absolutely no sympathy and actually said, "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!"


My doctor arrived at about 7:30 am dressed in his suit -- he had to leave his Bishopric meeting. He said that when the nurse called him at 3:30 am and told him that I had been admitted, he just started laughing. I think that my doctor was the only person who realized that I was serious about this baby coming on the 15th. At least someone had faith in me!

I think that the anesthetist felt bad about all of the pain I had and gave me an extra dose of something, because I could not feel my legs until about 4 hours after I gave birth. I felt pretty stupid when people had to literally pick me up to move me to different beds, or to put my feet in the stirrups.

Mason was born at 8:02 am and was 9 lbs. 12 oz. -- my biggest baby! We named him Mason Kyle Jensen. (Mason just because I like it, and Kyle after my brother) I absolutely love his name, although it sounds a lot like Nathan, so people think that we named him after Nate. I hope that it's not a huge problem as he is growing up.


I spent every minute that I could in the hospital. I had such kinds nurses taking care of me. Although with the epidural, I didn't feel the pain of giving birth to such a large baby, I sure did feel the pain afterwards. In fact, they kept giving me Percocet to help lessen the pain; but, my body isn't used to so much pain medication, so one night, I just threw it all up.

Nate and Jake came to pick us up from the hospital on Tuesday morning. I found out that Nate brought Jake to the emergency room at the same hospital the night before because he had asthma and croup so badly that he couldn't breathe. They were kind enough not to call me knowing that I would just freak out and feel that I had to be with him. Poor Jake.

Mason is an absolute angel. He rarely cries and sleeps so well during the day, and as of last night, during the night as well. I have the best 4 little boys in the world!

Almost Ready

I can't even begin to tell you how much I have been able to accomplish the last couple of weeks.

1. The crib is ready
2. All the baby clothes are washed & ironed & hung
3. I finished (7)of the pictures that I still had to do. Now I only have (4) left.
4. The dishwasher is fixed -- thanks to (3) gallons of vinegar and (1) fabulous bottle of Dishwasher Magic (it really does do wonders!)
5. We found the most fabulous plumber who didn't charge us a thing to fix the sink in the bathroom, the plug in the tub, he tightened and fixed valves on the water heater, and gave me advise on the dishwasher. Does anybody need to know his name? He's definitely going to be my plumber of choice when we finish our basement.
6. I got a pedicure -- thanks to my fabulous book club friends. I kept one last pedicure to use right before this baby. Nobody should have a baby without cute toes!!!
7. I finally packed my bag
8. The kids have outfits washed and ironed for a few days
9. The kids' homework is organized and ready to go

I went to the doctor on Monday for my last check. I haven't even started to dialate, yet. Ironically, my Cabbage Patch feet went away and now my feet only swell if I sit for hours at a time in one spot -- like I did at church and at Young Womens when we made jewelry. I still have fluffy Scarlett Johansson lips, though. Tuesday (the 10th) was my due date. The doctor will induce me whenever I want. I honestly almost asked to just get it over with on the 10th (just to make sure that I have a date with a multiple of 5); however, I decided to gamble and try to hold out until the 15th. And, yes...the doctor does know that the 15th is a Sunday. He told me that after what I went through last year with the two miscarriages, he will do whatever I ask. So, the induction is scheduled for Sunday the 15th. Now, let's just hope that I don't go into labor on Friday the 13th. Wouldn't that be a slap in the face!!! I'll keep you posted

Company for Conference Weekend

We have had a rush of company again this Conference weekend, which is nothing abnormal, but why is it that so many crazy things seem to happen to us before company arrives?

Nate's parents and sister and her family came into town and stayed with Nate's other sister. My sister Alli and her husband and new little baby came as well and stayed with us. The night before they arrived, the pilot light on our hot water heater decided to stop working causing a leak in the basement and no hot water upstairs. I could not do dishes, and I could not do laundry. And, I had to give everybody a sponge bath because we could not take showers. With that, the problems with our house now also included:

1. Broken dishwasher
2. Plugged pipes in the laundry room
3. Clogged sink and tub in master
4. A/C still broken
5. Our nice big screen tv decided to blow some of the color tubes that we will have to fix because the picture is kind of fuzzy

It was unbelievable. Our house is only 4 years old!!! While we were trying to deal with this, the bunk beds finally arrived. Actually, I shouldn't say that they arrived, because they didn't on their own. I was told that they would be here last Saturday, so we took all the beds apart and moved the crib only for Bassett not to show up last Saturday because some of the parts had not arrived. Then I was told that they would come on Monday -- nope, not Monday either. I called again on Wednesday and was finally told that the part had arrived, but that they didn't have enough delivery men there to deliver it. I told the supervisor that I did not care how it got here, but the beds would be delivered to my house that day and that he would have to figure out how to get it here. The supervisor delivered it himself. Cute bunk bed, but I'm done with Bassett.

The great news is that Devin absolutely loves his new big boy bed. It was a brilliant plan on my part to buy him the train bed comforter. He stayed in his new bed from night #1. Yeah!!!

Although we had company this weekend, Nate and the boys had already planned on going to the Boise State vs. Utah State game with some friends in the neighborhood. I've always thought that Nate was an intense BYU fan, but he is nothing compared to this neighbor who is a Boise State fan. He bought about 50 tickets to the game and had shirts made for everybody who went. Then he created his own tailgate party and painted all the boys with orange/blue hair and painted their faces. My boys had a blast.

By the way, we did figure out the hot water problem. My fabulous neighbor who is the wife of a heating/plumbing specialist gave us a few tips. They worked. She saved us a lot of money. We were all able to take showers this weekend. (Although there is still a slow leak in the basement and the dishwasher still doesn't work!!!)

And...I do have pictures taken of most of the above but I don't know how to get them off of my camera because somehow I didn't put the memory card back in from the last time that I used it. So, once again, I've messed up with the camera. At the end of the day, it's just nice to know that we had a good time with our company and we're still trying to piece our house back together and to get ready for this baby.